As a pizzeria or bakery owner you know that your kitchen equipment is of the utmost importance. It helps with efficiency, quality, and productivity. For example, it can take up to twenty five minutes to knead dough by hand; however, it won’t take nearly as much time and effort with an industrial dough mixer. You also know that producing a dough that will make the customers come back for more is critical. The two big commercial dough mixers in the industry are the commercial spiral mixer and the commercial planetary mixer. What should you choose?

Commercial Spiral Mixer
The spiral mixers main function is to gently mix bread dough. The big selling point of this product is that the bowl rotates, which allows the dough not to be overworked or over-kneaded. The spiral hook is kneading only a portion of the whole dough mass at any given time. What does this mean? According to the bakerynetwork.com it creates a much lower friction factor, minimizing the amount of heat generated by the dough rubbing against the bowl. As a result, the dough can be more fully developed before it reaches critical temperature. The spiral dough mixer is definitely a versatile machine too because it can be used to develop different types of dough’s for cakes, cookies, pizzas, or even muffins. Spiral Mixers are available in a wide range of sizes and configurations. Even if you go with a large industrial sized commercial spiral mixer they are oftentimes mounted on castors for ease of mobility and storage. 

Commercial Planetary Mixer
The bakerynetwork.com states that the "planetary" design drives the mixing arm in an orbital fashion around the mixing bowl as it turns. The big difference between the planetary and spiral mixers is that the planetary mixer features a fixed, non-rotating bowl. Bakers and pizzeria owners must keep in mind that because of its orbital design and stationary bowl it creates more friction than the commercial spiral mixer. The extra heat generated can be a problem for dough based products. However, it has remained a popular mixer choice because it has a wide variety of attachments that can be used for mixing (paddles, whisks, dough hooks, and more). Because of the assorted attachments, a planetary mixer will also have variable speeds that compliment these attachments. So, although it might not be the best for dough products the different attachments can assist with blending or creaming products or aerating mixtures. 

A bakery might want to opt for both, spiral and planetary mixers, to assist with their various needs. However, a pizzeria may benefit more from the commercial spiral mixer alone seeing that pizza dough is the key ingredient. You could also look into pairing them with other kitchen equipment for ultimate efficiency. Pairing the spiral mixer with a dough sheeter or dough rounder will definitely lower the amount of time you spend preparing your dough! As long as you do your research and find the mixer that best suits your kitchen demands either option provides long lasting benefits.